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By the time the crowd dispersed from the execution grounds, the air inside the castle felt like a boiling cauldron with its lid barely holding in the steam.
The moment the nobles retreated to their private chambers, the walls of the Nightshade fortress began to tremble — not from war drums, but from the hissed whispers of political panic.
In the council wing, lords and ladies clumped into tight knots, their hushed voices sharp as blades.
Some were furious — heirs and patriarchs alike calling the king’s decision reckless, insisting that naming Heiko as crown prince without the council’s full deliberation would destabilize the realm. Others spoke of fear — the way River’s dark alpha aura had rolled over them like an ocean tide, and how her mere presence seemed to break all the rules t
